– "Day of Penance" Called for Blasphemous Art Exhibit: Catholics in the Philippines are being encouraged to observe a "Day of Penance" for the controversial dildo Jesus sculpture that has rocked the nation. The call for penance comes after the show was shuttered amidst outcry from Catholics and then formally cleansed by an exorcist. The archbishop of Manila has urged Catholics to pray and fast to seek God's forgiveness for the exhibition on August 26; he also ordered that a "Prayer for Reparation" be read all week in Mass. [Inquirer]

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– Strumming Up Some Money for Charity: In addition to being an actor and eastern-inflected philanthropist, Richard Gere is a serious guitar lover, it turns out, and now his collection of classic instruments is heading to Christie's on October 11. The 110-lot sale, which will include such iconic guitars as an original 1931 Martin acoustic (est. $50,000-$70,000) and Albert King's old 1958 Gibson Flying V (est. $60,000-$90,000), are expected to bring in over $1 million that Gere says "will go to support humanitarian causes around the world." [Press Release]

– Hottest Art Exhibition in the World in Qatar?: A Qatar artist named Edgy is trying to live up to his name by staging four geographically extreme art exhibitions of his abstract paintings. The first, "Hottest Art Exhibition in the World," will be held at the sandy Singing Dunes in Qatar during the hottest month of the year. Up next? The "Coldest Art Exhibition in the World," the "Highest Art Exhibition in the World," and the "Lowest Art Exhibition in the World." Stay tuned. [Gulf News]

– Monet Triptych Reunited in St. Louis: For the first time in 30 years, Monet's "Agapanthus" water lily triptych will be exhibited en totale. The three pieces are from three different collections: the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The exhibition "Monet's Water Lilies" will travel to all three institutions. [AFD]

– James Franco's Kisses His ASS Show Goodbye: "High/Low, Rob Lowe" will not reopen at Terence Koh's Asia Song Society after all. In fact, the gallery itself will be shut down for a while. [IN THE AIR]

– Untitled, Unreviewed No Longer: In the wake of Danny Meyer's giant profile in the New York Times Magazine, the paper has reviewed his newish restaurant at the Whitney — which has now added dinner service — and deemed Untitled to have "become a bona fide neighborhood hangout" thanks to its "extremely creative" food. [NYT]

– Triple Cheers: Flying high on a $100,000 Andy Warhol Foundation grant — and a National Magazine Award nomination in 2009, the same year it became a nonprofit — three-year-old online art journal Triple Canopy has signed a lease on a new 1,500-square-foot-space in north Brooklyn where it will hold lectures and performances. [NYT]

– Diego Rivera Murals Return to MoMA: An exhibition opening November 13 at the Museum of Modern Art will bring together fiveDiego Rivera murals. It will be the first time the paintings, commemorating events in Mexico's history, have been shown together for 80 years. [Press Release]

– "New York Has Very Limited Possibilities": As you may remember, we reported a while back that New York galleriest Perry Rubenstein was moving his gallery to Los Angeles, alongside his wife, art PR pro Sara Fitzmaurice. Now the Los Angeles Times has more details, like the planned gallery's site (a warehouse at 1215 Highland Ave.) and the opening date (in time for the Oscars), but nothing on its new artist roster. [LAT]

– Ai Weiwei Arrives at LACMA: Ai's touring installation project "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" has left New York's Plaza Hotel and arrived at its next stop, LACMA. Check out photos of the installation of the dozen still-bubble-wrapped animal heads here. [LAT]

– Andy Warhol, Beer Pitchman: One of the late Pop artist's "fright wig" self-portraits is being used to advertise Beck's beer, as part of the brewer's long-running "art labels" program. [ITA]

– Gluttony at Masterpiece: Appetites were big at this year's edition of tony British art and antiques fair Masterpiece London. According to a fair synopsis, the 28,347 visitors consumed 7,000 glasses of champagne and 23,000 canapés during the preview. [ITA]

– RIP Animation Artist Robert Breer: A "seminal figure in the newAmerican cinema and the American avant-garde," Breer began his career as a painter but moved into animation in the '50s — several of his works were included alongside those of Tingeuly and Duchampin Paris's seminal 1955 kinetic art exhibition "Le Mouvement" — before creating films that became celebrated for their absurdist visual invention. An exhibition of his work is currently on view at the Baltic Center for Contemporary Art in England. [NYT]